Dark Blue
by PaintedPetrichor
Summary: [Formerly known as 'Cold Hearts'] Lapis moves in with her childhood crush's rag-tag family, and despite their now-estranged relationship, their lingering feelings can't stay idle forever.
1. Rainy Girl

Crawling down the street, in and out of the reach of dim streetlamps, Pearl nearly bailed out and turned back home; anything to get her and Steven out of there. In a big city, in the middle of the night, there were far too many things to go wrong. Turning what she hoped would be their last corner, she reminded herself that at least there were worse boats to be in.

It was 11:35 p.m. by the time they arrived. Pearl pulled the car up to the curb near the playground and waited. Steven, groggy with sleep and still in his pajamas, squinted out the window, confused at what they were supposed to be waiting for. After a few moments, Pearl switched on the inside lights and waved, and despite not knowing exactly who or what they were signaling to, Steven waved along with her.

In the nearby phone booth a figure finally budged, shoving the folding door aside and cautiously slinking over to the car. As she got closer, Steven could start to make out some of her features: the suitcase she dragged behind her, the way her long skirt flowed with an almost magical grace, and the dyed-blue hair that framed her face.

Before he knew it, she was scrambling in next to him in the back of Pearl's second-hand Saturn.

"Buckled up?" Pearl asked from the driver's seat, already pulling out into the street.

The blue-haired woman yanked her seatbelt and fumbled with the buckle. "Uh, yeah."

"Good." Without turning around, Pearl reached up to flick off the lights before stepping on the gas. While Pearl was normally a model driver, Steven had a feeling they were going a touch over the speed limit.

After that brief exchange, Pearl and the newcomer fell uncomfortably silent, the splattering of the rain starting outside the only thing to be heard. While the former focused on the road, the latter was fixated on nothing but her own ragged, panicky breaths. When she seemed to have calmed down somewhat, Steven attempted to break the silence.

"Hi, I'm Steven- what's your name?"

The woman whipped around to face him. In the darkness her impossibly-wide eyes made him jump. "What?"

"Uh, your name?"

"Oh. It's Lapis," she answered, relaxing against the back of her seat.

"So, what're you doing… _here_?" Steven asked, his question interrupted by a yawn. Having been roused from bed and ushered into the car without explanation not long ago, his lack of sleep was starting to affect him; His eyelids were growing heavier by the minute, and holding his head up took constant effort.

"She's... an old friend, Steven," Pearl explained before Lapis had a chance to answer. "She's going to stay with us tonight."

Steven rested his forehead against the window. "Oh, oh okay," he said, letting his eyes close for a moment.

The rest of the night was left blurred in his mind, an amalgam of whispers and jangling keys that somehow ended with him back in his own bed. However, Steven did have one last coherent memory of the unexpected escapade; being carried through the dark, crickets chirping and cool night air biting at his bare ankles, while watching their new house guest follow him up the driveway and into their house.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading my new fic, hopefully the first chapter of many! It will eventually be PearlxLapis, and surely include other ships down the road. I hope you enjoy it, and I would be absolutely thrilled if you were to take the time to leave a review, whether it be constructive criticism or just a quick comment saying that you liked it!**


	2. Where You're Coming From

The events of the night before didn't register in Steven's mind until he found their new guest asleep on his couch. Despite having been kept up late the night before, the child was still up at the crack of dawn, long before anyone else. Climbing down from his loft bedroom, he almost slipped down the ladder when he was startled by a sudden, loud snore from below.

Seeing Lapis crashing on the living room couch, he suddenly recalled the trip to pick her up the night before. Still in her clothes from last night, with her bags thrown carelessly up against the couch, the woman looked incredibly out of place.

Not to say that she was the only thing that seemed out of place in the Quartz-Universe household, however.

Steven descended to the ground and tip-toed across the cold floor to the kitchen. Gathering a box of cereal and all its necessities in his arms, he made his way back to the living room and plopped down on the rug to watch cartoons.

When the television popped on the volume blasted at a high volume. Steven fumbled with the remote, turning the noise down to a much quieter level, but not in time to keep their houseguest from stirring. Lapis rolled over and her eyes slowly blinked open.

"Oh, sorry," Steven said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Lapis sat up and rubbed at her face. "'s okay."

"Are you hungry?" Steven asked. He filled his bowl with cereal and passed it to Lapis. "Here, have mine. I can get another bowl."

Lapis accepted the bowl with mild confusion. "Uh, thanks," she said, holding it steady as Steven poured milk for her. He handed her a spoon before running back to the kitchen for a new bowl.

"What're we watchin'?" Lapis asked around a mouthful of Fruit Loops.

" _Crying Breakfast Friends,_ _"_ Steven replied excitedly, joining her back in front of the television and quickly filling his own bowl, "the perfect breakfast-time cartoon!"

"So, what is it that they're crying about?"

"Oh, lots 'a stuff," Steven explained. "I think this is the episode where Bitter Bran Flakes tries to confess their feelings to Weeping Eggcup, but then they have their big fight." He stirred his cereal a bit apprehensively. "Ya' know, I wish Bran Flakes was in more episodes, but it always feels wrong to eat this while watching episodes about her." He stared thoughtfully at his food for another moment, then he shrugged and plunged another spoonful into his mouth.

"Is this show supposed to be funny or sad?" Lapis wondered aloud a minute later.

"Eh, it's both, but this episode is mostly sad. Just watch!" Steven said, waving his free hand at the screen.

After the episode concluded, Steven gathered up the breakfast mess and took everything back to the kitchen. When he returned, he brought with him a big, fluffy cat, tucked underneath his arm.

Lapis blinked, staring at what she was sure must be some sort of _very_ realistic toy.

It blinked back.

"What the- what's wrong with your cat?" she asked incredulously.

"Huh?" Steven checked the cat over with concern. "What's wrong with him?"

"He… he's _pink_."

"Oh, yeah!" Steven said with a laugh. "He used to be white, but then that Kool-Aid thing happened, and now he's pink." Steven sat down next to Lapis on the couch, settling the cat in his lap. "He doesn't seem to mind it though. His name's Lion; you can pet him if you want!"

The cat sniffed the newcomer curiously, and then he flopped down in Steven's lap and allowed Lapis to scratch him behind the ears.

"Cute," she commented, before pulling her hand away to reach for her backpack. She pulled out a cell phone and checked the time. "Do you have a shower that I could use?"

"Yeah, it's down the hallway," Steven told her. He raised his arm to point it out for her, which allowed Lion to wriggle from his grasp and sprint from the room. "Aw, man."

"Thanks." Lapis zipped open her bag and dug through her clothes.

"So, why are you here, exactly?" Steven asked, kneeling on the floor beside her.

"I'm just here for a visit," she stated bluntly.

"But, Pearl's never mentioned you before," Steven pondered, "and she always tells me when we're having visitors over."

Lapis paused for a moment, hovering with a small heap of clothes in her lap. "I had a fight with my girlfriend," she admitted, yanking her bag closed again, "so I left, and I needed somewhere to stay for awhile." She gathered up her clothes and started down the hall.

"And no," Lapis continued, pausing as she had an afterthought, "I wouldn't say that Pearl and I are friends."

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 **Chapter 2! Sorry both chapters have been so short; I've been very careful that everything is the way I want it and will fit with upcoming chapters, so it takes awhile sometimes, but I wanted to get a new chapter up before I went camping this week (and for Pearlapis Wednesday on tumblr). I hope you've enjoyed the story this far, and would be absolutely thrilled if you could take the time to leave a quick review!**

 **Also, a note- I'm considering changing the title of this story from 'Cold Hearts' to 'Dark Blue', so don't be alarmed if it changes by the next chapter.**


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